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Old 06-07-2016, 09:53 AM
ctsooner ctsooner is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Berlin, CT
Posts: 403
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I heard the Ref 6 with Richard Vandersteen's new amp, Vandersteen 7 mk2, Niagara 7000 power deal from AudioQuest. The whole system had top end AQ cabling. Source was mostly AMG's top tt/arm and cart. We also used ARCs top digital player. It was one of the best sounding systems I've ever heard. I was blown away at how natural everything was and how it truly felt like I was with Muddy Waters at the venue. Everything was there in spades. I'm very familiar with nearly all the ARC products going back to the early 80's. I've always like their gear, but there are some products of theirs that just stand out in their price ranges as being special. I think this pre is very special. I was able to listen with Doug Gordon, Richard Vandersteen and Garth Powell who invented the Niagara line of power conditioners. It was so much fun listening to these guys who made these products or were part of voicing talk about how great they all sounded together. They all share ideas with each other and incorporate various parts of each other's engineering into their products so it makes sense that they sound so awesome together. You can really learn a ton listening with these guys as they point things out that your brain is hearing that you don't even notice unless it's not there.

The ref 6 sounds to me, just like you pointed out. Thanks for sharing info on such a great preamp. The best part was that Doug said ARC may have a new owner, but they really are their own company and will continue to be. They will make some marketing decisions on the new owners, but the engineering is all aRC and will continue to be so.
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